The Buffalo River: What do we do next?

Spend $165 million, $500 million, or do it right for $1 billion—who decides and who pays?

by Bill Zimmermann
The Buffalo Waterfront Alliance will hold its second part of series of waterfront agenda open forums on Wednesday, November 8th at the CPO Club at the foot of Porter Avenue from 6-7 pm, free and open to all.This month’s meeting focuses on: Our Buffalo River and the WNY waterways pollution facts, as well as resolve plan options. A month ago Buffalo News’ Mike Beebe did an excellent two-day coverage article reporting hard news and details about our fate as a community regarding our rivers and our waterways… it was truly an amazing piece of helpful community journalism – a positive orientation pointing leaders to conditions of our most cherished natural resource. So what now?Present for this month’s forum panel: Mike Beebe of the Buffalo News, Julie O’Neill of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers, other members from Riverkeepers, and a few more notable panel guests. It’s free and open to the public, starts at 6 pm and runs till 7 pm at CPO Club. CPO Club is located next to the Buffalo Yacht Club at the foot of Porter Avenue.

Some of the questions we’ll ask the panel at November’s Buffalo Waterfront Alliance meeting are:

·          Did most Buffalo folk read and absorb Mike Beebe’s articles on the Buffalo River and WNY waterways?

·           Do we believe the public is sincerely interested in our dilemma of waterways pollution, and if not, why?

·          Is the government and general media interested in continuing to profile this as a big issue?

·          Do we have a responsibility as a community to respond? What are the tools we have access to?

·          What are the next steps our community/government/media should take to make this issue more prevalent?

·          Do we research and talk about what they’ve been doing successfully in Hamilton?

·          What are the next action/funding/resolution steps, and who will run with them? If we do not actively participate, will our voices and opinions be heard?

·          Was this a serious story, and if so, do you think the media and community responded, and if not, why not?

·          And what steps would it take to let the people know they have a voice?

·          Does Buffalo really care about its rivers, and waterways, or was the silence following this story a matter of weakness due to our economic inability to react?

·          Is it just an unattractive subject compared to, say, our skyway teardown issue?

We know that the facts of the story shed both shocking truisms and yet no one refuted the facts, so why the silence in the aftermath?
What can community media-supported action groups do to initiate a strong voice in this discussion?

Can we use the power of community media bloggers and community led groups to effect change in order to make this an apt issue of concern in our community?

Please attend: Wednesday, November 1st, CPO Club (at foot of Porter, next to Buffalo yacht Club…FREE to all). If you wish to be a panel discussion member: contact Bill Zimmermann at 716-885-6936, or wnysail@yahoo.comOur Buffalo Waterfront Alliance: a truly open forum for voices and action, diversified but eager and participating, forming committees, alliances, and voices that can Stand Up and Make Change for Buffalo and its Waterfront…